New baby? Now’s a good time for a new Will

With the joyous occasion of welcoming a new baby into your life comes some difficult conversations. While it is not something anyone likes to think about, it's key that parents consider how their death could potentially affect their young child in the future and make sure proper legal arrangements are in place beforehand - like having an up-to-date Will. 

Ensuring that all necessary steps have been taken will give you peace of mind knowing your little one’s future has been provided for even if tragedy were to strike.

If you’ve just had a baby, here are three reasons why you should update or write a Will:

Your relationship

Marriage may not ensure that your estate passes to the intended successor. Without a Will, if married couples with an estate valued at under £250,000 pass away without a will their children could receive nothing from them upon death.

If living together but unmarried then it is likely that any assets would be inherited by their biological child unless those are held in joint names or property titles, otherwise they have no legal heir when one partner dies.

Single parents need also consider other family members as even if there is only one child involved another parent's surviving offspring and/or spouse might get preferential rights over yours should such individual meet his/her demise without having made arrangements for asset transference through succession planning instruments like wills or trusts.

As an unmarried single parent, if you were to pass away your children would automatically inherit anything left behind. Yet when it comes to marriage, the priority of inheritance can shift -be sure that in this case a Will is updated so all parties benefit from an organised estate plan.

Who will look after your children?

It is of utmost importance for single parents and couples alike to plan ahead when it comes to the guardianship of their children, should they be unable to provide care themselves.

Take this as an opportunity not only ensure that you have selected someone trustworthy who agrees with your wishes and expectations regarding future upbringing, but also avoid any potential disagreements among family members if left up in the air.

Create peace-of-mind knowing exactly what will happen next; discuss plans with the relevant people and put paperwork in place.

Re-marriage

Even if you and your spouse have agreed to divide inheritance as-is, without a Will or Trust in place there is no guarantee that will happen; particularly if tragedy strikes. For instance, when their surviving parent remarries - the law would prioritise assets for the new partner's benefit over any of yours from before.

Therefore, it’s essential to consider creating an estate safeguard such as a trust so meaningful legacies can be passed down exactly per your wishes regardless of other life changes.

After a remarriage, the validity of existing Wills may be nullified without your spouse or their children realising.

By not taking precautionary measures such as creating Trust Plans instead of Mirror Wills, it leaves room for unexpected outcomes where spouses can potentially disinherit their own families unintentionally when making new Estate Plans after one passes away first.

Making sure you plan ahead with something more secure than just a simple Will is key in ensuring that all parties are taken care of and protected should tragedy strike.